New goal for festival
Joining the EU doesn't stop the projector
 | | Estonian supermodel Carmen Kass stars in Set Point, a film from a new EU member. |
Jan. 27, 2005
The original intent of the Days of European Film festival when it started a dozen years ago was to bring some culture from European Union countries to the residents of the then-candidate Czech Republic. Later, other candidate countries were also invited to show films. Now that we've joined, it would seem the festival has achieved its purpose.
The organizers, luckily, see no reason to shut down the wonderful little festival, and the same countries that have always participated have yet another crop of new films. So from now on the festival will serve to keep us in touch with our fellow EU members — including fellow newcomers Estonia and Slovenia — and provide a showcase for some countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, which are lagging just a little behind us in joining.
The venues this year are Svetozor and Aero, both of which are on the tram 9 line. Films in the schedule with English subtitles are listed below. All films have Czech translation to headphones, except those shown at the Feb. 4 midnight marathon, which are not translated. A round-table discussion in English and Czech on the future of single-screen theaters will take place Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. at Svetozor.
Warsaw (Varsava)—Poland, 2003. Dariusz Gajewski, director. Agnieszka Grochowska, ¸ukasz Garlicki, Dominika Osta½owska, Lech Mackiewicz star. In Polish with English subtitles. Original title Warszawa. Eight characters are all searching for something, and their journeys eventually collide on a winter day in Poland's capital.
Aero: Jan. 27 at 4:30
Svetozor: Feb. 4 at 9
Portugal S.A. (Portugalsko, a.s.)—Portugal, 2003. Ruy Guerra, director. Diogo Infante, Cristina Camara, Henrique Viana, Luis Madureira star. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Life is complicated for an economist with a checkered past. He tries to take control of his life by adopting a new, more assertive attitude.
Aero: Jan. 27 at 7
Svetozor: Feb. 1 at 9
Schultze Gets the Blues (Schulzeho chytlo blues)—Germany 2003. Michael Schorr, director. Horst Krause, Harald Warmbrunn, Karl-Fred Muller star. In German with English subtitles. After losing his job, the title character decides not to sink into despair like his friends. He finds a new passion in music and travels to Louisiana.
Aero: Jan. 27 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 1 at 4:30
Evil (Zlo)—Sweden, 2003. Mikael Hafstrom, director. Andreas Wilson, Linda Zilliacus, Henrik Lundstrom, Gustav Skarsgard star. In Swedish with Czech subtitles. Original title Ondskan. A boarding school for difficult children isn't the safe refuge that a teenager hoped for. He has to fight to keep his dignity.
Aero: Jan. 31 at 9
Svetozor: Jan. 28 at 4:30
River (Reka)—Finland, 2001. Jarmo Lampela, director. Juha Kukkonen, Ilkka Koivula, Sanna Hietala star. Original title Joki. In Finnish with English subtitles. Panorama of different characters from young punk fans to an elderly man on his birthday. All of it takes place on a single fall afternoon in a small Finnish town.
Aero: Feb. 1 at 4:30
Svetozor: Jan. 28 at 7
One Calorie of Tenderness (Jedna kalorie neznosti)—Bulgaria, 2003. Ivanka Grabcheva, director. Maria Kavardzhikova, Cvetana Maneva, Valentin Ganev star. In Bulgarian with English subtitles. Original title Edna kaloija neznost. Once her now-adult children move out, a mother plans to remarry. Her friends all have opinions on the subject.
Aero: Jan. 28 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 5 at 4:30
Miss Phyllis (Slecna Phyllis)—Austria, 2004. Clemens Schonborn, director. Sophie Rois, Bernhard Schutz, Hertha Schell star. In German with English subtitles. Original title Fräulein Phyllis. At 40 years of age, Phyllis is still living with her mother. She has also fallen for a small-time TV actor. Many of her actions interfere with other people's lives.
Aero: Feb. 2 at 4:30
Svetozor: Jan. 28 at 9
Whore's Son (Syn devky)—Austria, Luxembourg, 2003. Michael Sturminger. director. Chulpan Chamatova, Miki Manojlovic, Stanislav Lisnic star. In German with English subtitles. Original title Hurensohn. People have called the protagonist, who is a young man, a son of a whore all of his life, even though his mother claims to be a waitress. He starts looking for the truth.
Aero: Jan. 29 at 7
Svetozor: Feb. 4 at midnight (marathon)
Beneath Her Window (Pod jejim oknem)—Slovenia, 2003. Metod Pevec, director. Polona Juh, Marjana Brecelj, Sasa Tabakoviç star. In Slovenian with English subtitles. Original title Pod njenim oknom. A midlife crisis makes a dancer contemplate her relationships and she becomes interested in a strange man who keeps appearing under her window.
Aero: Jan. 30 at 4:30
Svetozor: Jan. 29 at 7
One Day in August (Jeden den v srpnu)—Greece, 2001. Konstantinos Giannaris, director. Argyris Xafis, Stathis Papadoupoulos, Theodora Tzimou, Kostas Zotsianidis star. In Greek with English subtitles. Residents of an apartment building go on vacation. Meanwhile, a young thief hides in the building and uncovers secrets about the tenants by rummaging through their stuff.
Aero: Jan. 29 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 4 at 4:30
The Football Factory (Fotbalova fabrika)—UK, 2003. Nick Love, director. Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan, Roland Manookian star. Young males in England lead boring lives centered on soccer and beer. One gets caught up in an escalating cycle of violence.
Aero: Feb. 4 at 7
Svetozor: Jan. 29 at 9
Only Girls (Jedine a jedinecne)—France, 2002. Pierre Jolivet, director. Sandrine Kiberlain, Sylvie Testud, Francois Berleand star. In French with English subtitles. Original title Filles uniques. Unusual tale of a friendship between two women, both of whom had no sisters. One is a thief and the other a judge.
Aero: Feb. 2 at 7
Svetozor: Jan. 30 at 4:30; Feb. 4 at midnight (marathon)
| Blind Flight (Let naslepo)—UK, 2003. John Furse, director. Ian Hart, Linus Roache star. True story of an Irishman from Belfast and an Englishman who were held hostage in Lebanon in the 1980s. Their situation forces them to set aside their differences.
Aero: Jan. 30 at 7
Svetozor: Feb. 6 at 4:30
Country (Venkov)—Ireland, 2000. Kevin Liddy, director. Dean Pritchard, Des Cave, Lisa Harrow star. Two boys have a hard time with their widowed father until their aunt shows up and shows some compassion. One of the boys makes friends with a traveler. The other boy falls for a girl whose parents are feuding with his father.
Svetozor: Jan. 30 at 7
Live Forever (Zit navzdy)—UK, 2002. John Dower, director. Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker star. Britain seemed to spring to new life in the 1990s with the rise of Britpop, and other fresh aspects of culture.
Aero: Jan. 6 at 7
Svetozor: Jan. 30 at 9; Feb. 4 at midnight (marathon)
Sea of Silence (Dal nez Mesic)—Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, 2003. Stijn Coninx, director. Huub Stapel, Johanna ter Steege, Neeltje de Vree star. In Dutch with English subtitles. Also known as Further Than the Moon. Original title Vender dan de Maan. The flight of Apollo 11 to the moon upsets a little Dutch girl, who thinks that it means man will soon fly to heaven. Progress is also starting to infringe on her and her father's farm lifestyle.
Aero: Jan. Jan. 31 at 4:30
Svetozor: Feb. 2 at 9
Set Point (Dnes v noci nebudeme spat)—Estonia, 2003. Ilmar Taska, director. Carmen Kass, Priit Võigemast, Maria Avdjushko, Peter Franzen star. In Estonian with English subtitles. Also called We Will Not Sleep Tonight. Original title Täna oosel me ei maga. A murder mystery brings four people together and sheds light on a society in the midst of change.
Aero: Jan. 31 at 7
Svetozor: Feb. 5 at 7
Easily and Sweetly, Sunday as It Is, White on Blue—Lithuanian short films. In Lithuanian with English subtitles.
Aero: Feb. 6 at 4:30
Svetozor: Jan. 31 at 9
Pharaoh (Faraon)—Romania, 2004. Sinisa Dragin, director. Eugenia Bosanceanu, Richard Bovnoczki, Adriana Butoi star. In Romanian with English subtitles. Original title Faraonul. The local beggar turns out to be a man who had been sentenced to spend four decades in Siberia. A young news reporter wants to get his story, but the man is very reluctant to divulge it.
Aero: Feb. 1 at 7
Private Madness (Soukrome silenstvi)—Belgium, 2004. Joachim Lafosse, director. Kris Cuppens, Catherine Salee, Vincent Cahay star. In French with English subtitles. Original title Folie privee. After a couple breaks up, the father agrees to give custody of the son and the house to his former partner and her new lover. But then he refuses to move out.
Aero: Feb. 4 at 4:30
Svetozor: Feb. 1 at 7
Black and White (Cerny a bily)—Portugal, 2003. Jose Carlos de Oliveira, director. Cristina Homem de Mello, Luis Sarmento, Angelo Torres star. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Original title Preto e branco. A white sergeant raised in Africa and a black political activist from Europe are on opposite sides of a colonial war. The sergeant has to take the activist through hostile territory.
Aero: Feb. 1 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 3 at 4:30
Move Me (Ulice Stesti)—Denmark, 2003. Morten Arnfred, director. Birthe Neumann, Jesper Lohmann, Ditte Grabol star. In Danish with English subtitles. Original title Lykkevej. Moving to a much smaller house when her marriage to a successful businessman fails brings big changes to a middle-aged woman. The new neighbors also don't approve of her love affair with a younger man.
Aero: Feb. 5 at 7
Svetozor: Feb. 2 at 7
Runaway (Uprchlik)—Italy 2003. Andrea Manni, director. Daniele Liotti, Claudia Coli, Alessandro Benvenuti star. In Italian with English subtitles. Original title Il Fuggiasco. Autobiographical account of a left-wing extremist perhaps falsely accused of murder as part of a cover-up. He flees to Mexico but is sent back and might face the death penalty.
Aero: Feb. 3 at 4:30
After Midnight (Po pulnoci)—Italy, 2004. Davide Ferrario, director. Giorgio Pasotti, Francesca Inaudi, Fabio Troiano star. In Italian with English subtitles. Original title Dopo mezzanotte. The night watchman at a film museum watches old movies after hours. A girl in trouble seeks refuge at the museum and the two start a relationship in spite of their differences.
Aero: Feb. 4 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 3 at 7
Stratosphere Girl—M.X. Oberg, director. Chloe Winkel, Jon Yang, Rebecca Palmer, Tuva Novotny star. In German with English subtitles. Comic book stories and reality start to mix for a female artist who goes to Japan and becomes involved in nightlife and a mystery.
Aero: Feb. 5 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 4 at midnight (marathon)
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (Aileen: zivot a smrt masove vrazedkyne)—UK, USA, 2003. Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill, directors. Aileen Wournos stars. Documentary about the female serial killers whose story inspired the fiction film Monster. This film looks at her final days.
Aero: Feb. 6 at 9
Svetozor: Feb. 5 at 9 | — Compiled by Raymond Johnston
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